The two lovers sit on a boat in the middle of nowhere immediately before the opening credits. They make out, the guy goes to snag some alcohol, and boom, giant squid/octopus/shark/insert other creature here takes him for a late snack. That's the beginning of Kraken's by-the-numbers script that shamelessly borrows every concept from one of many other movies in the underwater creature feature genre. The obligatory Jaws reference comes less than 10-minutes in, using the unforgettable "We're gonna need a bigger boat" quote.
In this case, it's a disappointment. The cast is excellent, including Victoria Pratt, who puts on a great show while being exploited for every ounce of cleavage possible. It's odd how everyone else is wearing heavy jackets, while she prances around in a bra or bikini.
The focus is clearly on the characters in this one, cutting down the squid's screen time while the script pushes on with a treasure hunting story. Also inserted into the script is a set of villains who only stay on the screen to be finished off with the standard "bad guy karma death" before it's over. Kraken would have fared just fine without them.
In fact, the Kraken is awfully focused. If a character isn't part of the main story, the hungry critter shows no interest aside from the opening moments. It's not really a water-based beastie flick without the dumb teenagers in a raft wading out into the path of the title monster. That's the only cliché missing. The title here is also misleading. Everything takes place in shallow water, which does lead to some impressive underwater photography given the limited budget resources.
The Kraken itself is an admirable design, based in reality. It looks superb for a low budget affair when in the water. When interacting with humans, it fails miserably. It lacks texture and the animation is unbelievably stiff. Only one scene really lets the audience see what the Kraken can do. Nearly all deaths are done out of sight under the water while a few tentacles flail about. Its death is also painful to watch, not because of what happens to it, but with all of the build up, the Kraken meets a meager fate.
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1 - Joan Hunt
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